Former Griffith Waratah Tigers player Andrew Fifita has the chance to reinvigorate his rugby league representative career after being named on the NSW bench for State of Origin one in Sydney on May 27.
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The Cronulla prop has been in wrecking-ball form in the NRL this season and is averaging 156 hit-up metres a game.
Those numbers proved too good for Blues coach Laurie Daley to ignore as he attempts to mastermind back-to-back series wins.
Fifita first made his mark in the Origin arena when he played all three games of the 2013 series.
The then 24-year-old went on to be named Dally M Prop of the Year and became one of the hottest properties in the NRL.
But an injury-plagued 2014 saw Fifita miss the representative season before a battle with depression had him contemplating quitting rugby league last September and moving overseas to work as a carpenter.
Speaking to Fairfax Media in April, Fifita said he was in a dark place before checking into a rehab centre.
"At first I felt there was no light at the end of this tunnel,” he said.
“I was in a slump. I was in a deep hole and it was just darkness. I felt like there was no joy to life.”
But if his on-field form is anything to go by, Fifita appears to be in a healthier head space after receiving treatment and looks primed to rediscover the form that made him the NRL’s No.1 big man.
NSW: Josh Dugan, Daniel Tupou, Josh Morris, Michael Jennings, William Hopoate, Mitchell Pearce, Trent Hodkinson, Aaron Woods, Robbie Farah, James Tamou, Beau Scott, Ryan Hoffman, Josh Jackson, Trent Merrin, Boyd Cordner, David Klemmer, Andrew Fifita.
